A special book for visually impaired childeren
[introduction of the chapter]
The importance of tactile books
Unlike their sighted peers, children with a visual impairment have limited access to accessible books. Tactile books play a crucial role in their development and education.
Reading a book can be fun and stimulates the development of children in various ways. Being read to and learning to read is important for all children and surely this includes children with a visual impairment. Being able to read can give a source of lifelong pleasure and learning. To teach to explore tactile illustrated books with braille starts at an early age, from 0 years on.
Children with a severe visually impairment may not see their parents reading the paper or a book and they don’t see what a sighted child sees in the street (for example the M for MacDonalds). Adults in their environment can help them by bringing the world to them. These children need tactile illustrated books with braille, ink print, textures and raised graphics when they are older. They are a great way to foster the development of literacy and concept building skills but also help visually impaired children to understand their personal daily life, they stimulate imagination and help them expand and diversity their own experience.
A tactile book
A tactile illustrated book means, the images are tangible. Tactile illustrations are being explored with the fingers, instead of visual images. How to make them meaningful for a severely visual impaired child, is part of our purpose as a parent or a professional. The blind and visually impaired needs help to find tactile illustrations in a book. They will not see the illustration or point at it like a sighted child. Both braille and ink print are used to explain the images and help the child to learn the pleasure of reading. Being able to read through touch creates an inclusive literary experience for children who are blind or have low vision. The child should be invited to touch the tactile illustrations and the braille.
Pleasure of reading
In addition to all the benefits, we also want to focus on the pleasure of reading. Reading to children can help to build a relationship with the child, by spending time together and enjoying a book together. Children will remember the joint pleasure when being read to at bedtime or at another moment during the day. Books have a special way of bringing people together. When they are accustomed to books by being read to at an early age, there is a chance they will keep liking to read them. Even when they have learned to read themselves.